History

History

1990s — Team background and early achievements

The RSI Video Technologies engineering team was formed in the 1990s as part of ITT’s development efforts as ITT began importing the first masked microprocessors into Europe. As a European certified design center, we were on the cutting edge developing masked microprocessor applications for these advanced components, creating new markets in varied industries. Other achievements include:

The first embedded applications for electronic financial transaction verification.

A finance-encoding DES algorithm with a 64 bit key into an embedded microcontroller.

Advanced RF communications devices for telecom and government applications.

World leader in design and fabrication of highly integrated battery powered radio circuits for new and emerging applications. Key products demanded very low power consumption, including FM pagers and the first wireless electronic shelf labels.

Created one of the earliest RF residential gas meters with 7 year operation on a single AA battery.

As market demand exploded, this team oversaw the manufacturing of millions of these devices that were sold all over the world as battery powered RF became mainstream.

2000 — Strasbourg, France

2000 — RSI was officially founded in Strasbourg, France.

2001 — RSI concentrated all of its efforts on developing the first wireless burglar alarm system with video verification – Videofied. The R&D development effort built upon more than 120 man-years of engineering experience in new technologies. The project built upon expertise in low power consumption radio communications and battery powered devices. The technology innovations from this effort are protected by thirteen international patents on key foundational approaches for wireless video alarm applications.

2002 — The first generation Videofied product is launched based on analog video camera technology and the 2.4 GHz radio communications. Videofied was immediately adopted by some of the major monitoring stations in France.

2003 — RSI began selling products internationally.

2005 — United States

2005 — RSI Video Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of RSI France, was created in Minnesota. RSI Video Technologies was tasked to develop a security product line to meet the needs of North America based upon the battery-powered wireless camera technology created in Europe and build the Videofied brand in the USA.

2005 — RSI Video Technologies introduced its second generation of Videofied products with two significant improvements: RF communication and the video camera technology. The 2.4 GHz had limited range inside buildings and structures and was upgraded to the 900 Mhz band with dramatically better effective range (up to 2,000 feet in open air) to communicate with the peripheral devices. The new 900 MHz frequency enables greater penetration through building materials for all alarm devices for more robust operation (this frequency is also used by law enforcement emergency radios for the same reason – to maximize communications inside buildings). In addition, the analog video was replaced with a digital camera, allowing for much faster compression/transmission of the video clips to the central station. These fundamental changes provided dramatic improvement in terms of performance in real life installations and help RSI expand to other markets in Europe.

2007 — RSI Video Technologies added cell communications from the panel to the central monitoring station. The battery powered GSM/GPRS modem in the panel made the Videofied alarm systems 100% wireless and took video verification outdoors to protect remote assets in harsh environments. Videofied become a major new tool combatting copper theft. The outdoor Videofied product line now secures critical infrastructure around the world including cell towers, electrical substations, petro/chem facilities and pipelines, and water facilities. Videofied made outdoor protection possible and affordable because it was truly wireless and battery powered.

2008 — RSI France is renamed RSI Video Technologies, to unify the Videofied brand around the world under a single name. Videofied is sold in over 50 countries in both residential and commercial applications, securing everything from single occupant dwellings to critical infrastructure.

2013 — RSI Video Technologies launches their third generation product with improved RF and improved video cameras – cost reductions with the new generation of technology move video verification into the mainstream indoor market for commercial and residential applications. The improvements decrease transmission time of the video to the central station by a factor of six. The camera technology now includes full VGA resolution and color. In addition, cell communications move to 3G/4G. Videofied also launches a mobile app for smartphone interactivity to allow remote arming/disarming of the alarm and remote viewing through the MotionViewers.